how to figure circumfrence (sp)

I won't dwell on it, but you still lose me. A 5th degree polynomial
has [at most] four local max/min; i.e. the plot goes
up/down/up/down/up. That's a strange shape for a leg. :-)

Matlab is a bit hefty for that sort of thing. Try Graphmatica for 2D
plots: www,archives.math.utk.edu.
I find DeltaCad really helpful. A bit of a learning curve for a
drawing klutz like myself, but I finally got the hang of doing spline
curves.
Bill.

The trick is the "at most". I just wanted flat at both ends and the
curve in between equally distributed. At the risk of dwelling on it:
f(x)=6x^5 - 15x^4 + 10x^3 between x=0 and x=1 is the function I
settled on. I think it'sa fairly standard chair leg shape, actually,
although I don't know the name of it. The up/down/up/down/up
part happens outside the range of interest.
It's not as strange as all that, and I probably could have achieved
the same thing with a set of french splines. This way, I got to tell
myself I was "woodworking" when what I was actually doing was
playing with Matlab. I got to have similar fun when I sat down to
plan the angle I needed to cut a desired cove on my table saw. As
always, the doing was much harder than the math.

I did find myself a cheap (free) CAD package, but I found it very hard
to use. My (minimal) CAD training is 15 years old, and at that time,
you typed in the coordinates of the points you wanted and the machine
drew it for you. These days, apparently, it's all about starting with
blank shapes and doing cutting planes or rotations on them. This is
not how my brain works at all.

Neat!!
I use Mupad for something more dramatic, but will stick to simpler
programs, usually preferring to figure by hand. My brother in law was
a draftsman, and left me some of his tools. One "French curve" is in
the shape of a babe. I'm afraid to handle her too much ...too
distracting, so she sits in a drawer.

Do try Deltacad. It's very intuitive. All have a learning curve, but
this one is relatively slight. Recently I drew up a model of our
front door that I have to rebuild. Just rectangles and a few lines
and dimensions are figured automatically. The end product is
infinitely neater than I could draw or sketch.
Bill.

proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:
remove ns from my header address to reply via email
100 seconds to the hour, ten hours per day, 100 days per year.
All this would be possible, if only we could round off Pi.

*****************************************************
Marriage. Where two people decide to get together so
that neither of them can do what they want to because
of the other one.

Is that what you're making this mountain out of, Bob?
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Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
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On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 11:11:27 GMT, "David F. Eisan"
......and in reply I say!:
remove ns from my header address to reply via email
There is a fate that shapes our ends, rough hew them though we
may.....

You use the term "figure" very well, m'sieur.
*****************************************************
Marriage. Where two people decide to get together so
that neither of them can do what they want to because
of the other one.

I believe you were referring to theese, Meester Ironmonger:
--Three Samurai--
Once upon a time a powerful Emperor advertised for a new Chief
Samurai.
Only three applied for the job: a Japanese, a Chinese and a Jewish
Samurai.
"Demonstrate your skills!" commanded the Emperor. The Japanese
samurai stepped forward, opened a tiny box, and released a fly.
He drew his samurai sword and "swish"; the fly fell to the floor,
neatly divided in two!
"What a feat!" said the Emperor. "Number Two Samurai, show me what
you cando." The Chinese samurai smiled confidently, stepped forward
and opened a tiny box, releasing a fly. He drew his samurai sword and
"swish, swish"; the fly fell to the floor, neatly quartered!
"That is skill!" nodded the Emperor. "How are you going to top that,
Number Three Samurai?" Number Three Samurai stepped forward, opened a
tiny box, released one fly, drew his Samurai sword, and "swoooooosh"
flourished his sword so mightily that a gust of wind blew through the
room. But the fly was still buzzing around!
In disappointment, the Emperor said, "What kind of skill is that? The
fly isn't even dead."
"Dead, schmed," replied the Jewish Samurai. "Dead is easy.
Circumcision--THAT takes skill!"
--/Three Samurai--
--============================================--
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
---
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development

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